So Dickens, general manager of MW Recreation Corp. in Orlando, buys TV commercials during that after-school time block.

Scores of advertisers such as Dickens will spend $5 million to $6 million with Central Florida television stations this year in an effort to reach the region's 332,000 children.

That money - and the attention of the area's children - are now the center of an unprecedented programming battle.

Until recently, virtually all of that advertising money would have wound up in one pot: WOFL-Channel 35.

But upstart WKCF-Channel 18 is aggressively moving in on that turf. In the past six months, it has made tremendous gains in children's viewership, and the station now hopes to convert that into money.

CHANNEL 18 CUTS INTO 35'S AUDIENCE

November ratings - the most recent available - tell the story. They indicate WKCF experienced double- and triple-digit increases in the percentage of children who tuned in to the station during key time blocks.

The gains, which came largely at the expense of WOFL, ranged from 13 percent on weekday mornings to more than 400 percent on Saturday morning.

Wayne Spracklin, general sales manager at WKCF, said his goal is to double children's ad sales at the station and grab 40 percent of the market by the end of the year.

That would be a shift of $1 million to $1.2 million.

Executives at WOFL, still the leading children's station in the market, say it won't happen.

''We are still ahead by a long shot,'' said Lynn Stepanian, director of programming and promotions at WOFL.

What do kids say?

''Fox 35, that's what we usually turn on when we get home from school,'' said Nick Sweers, 12, of Orlando.

When asked about their favorite shows, he and his brother, Alex, 10, rattle off a string of cartoons and live-action shows on both WOFL and WKCF. Their list, however, is dominated by WOFL shows.

''Fox 35 has more shows than 18 that I like,'' Alex said.

As for advertisers trying to reach children, WOFL remains the overwhelming local favorite. Executives at both stations estimate Channel 35 currently controls 80 percent of all children's TV ad money in the market.

''WOFL . . . is a gorilla in the kids business,'' Spracklin said.

So far, a few advertisers have defected.

''Up until this, I really didn't look at buying 18 for children. When I was concentrating on children, it was 35 I always looked at,'' said Donna Turner, director of marketing at Gatorland, the alligator farm-attraction south of Orlando.

Gatorland now places kids ads on both stations, but Turner says that on Channel 18, ''I think I'm getting more for my money.''

The biggest children's deal WKCF has locked down involves a national advertiser that also is a children's program producer.

Saban Entertainment Inc., the producer of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, has agreed to place from $200,000 to $300,000 in advertising with WKCF this year in exchange for the station airing seven half-hour Saban shows, including something called Samurai Pizza Cats, which debuts in September.

WB'S PROGRAMMING INFLUENCED WKCF

Why the change at WKCF and why now?

The answer dates to Oct. 26, 1994, when station executives announced they would join the fledgling WB Network.

The new network promised to be an instant heavyweight among kids programmers. The WB stands for Warner Bros. Studios, the network's founder and the same company that owns Looney Tunes cartoons: Bugs Bunny, Sylvester and Tweety and other classics.

Also, more than a year before the network's launch, WB signed Steven Spielberg to produce cartoons.

That clout helped persuade Bob McAllan, president of Press Broadcasting Co., the station's owner, to choose WB over then-also-fledgling UPN, the TV network being founded by Paramount.

WB Network premiered its children's lineup in September. It started with one hour after school and three hours on Saturday morning.

PHILOSOPHY WORKED WELL FOR CHANNEL 35

Catering to children is a strategy that has worked very well for WOFL.

When Meredith Corp. - a Des Moines, Iowa, media company - bought the station in 1983, it was already beaming kids shows. Norris Reichel, the station's general manager, said of the children's market in Orlando, ''We used to have it all.

''It was very easy (for WOFL) to be in the kids business,'' said Wayne Godzie, general sales manager at WRBW-Channel 65, which has carried children's programs since it went on the air in June 1994. ''There was no other independent station in the market, and it was easy to control.''